Warren Philharmonic Orchestra Performs at Student Concerts

2013 audience members

The Warren Philharmonic Orchestra continued its outreach to area third through eighth grade students by sponsoring instructional concerts for students at Lakeview High School Auditorium in Cortland on the morning of November 7, 2014. These live performances encourage students to discover the thrill of classical music and the instruments, performers and composers that enrich our lives. The concerts were free to students from Trumbull-area schools. Reservation details were sent to principals. The orchestra performed excerpts from the fall public concert on the theme A Magic Firebird! Students experienced works by Gluck (Dance of the Furies), Stravinsky (The Firebird Suite) and Mozart (Sinfonia Concertante). The concerts concluded with Let It Go and other music from the movie Frozen. "Each piece on our program tells a story, creates a mood, and portrays an adventure," explained Susan Davenny Wyner, Warren Philharmonic Orchestra's music director and conductor. "Our orchestra has over 50 professional musicians who play over 60 different musical instruments. At the concert you will meet all the instruments of the orchestra and hear the stories behind the music.

"Our star players will take turns showing you how each instrument looks and sounds. You will meet the string instruments, which go from being small enough to fit under your chin (the violin) to so monstrously large (the double bass) that four small children could fit inside its "belly" and the player has to stand up to play it. You will meet the woodwinds, from the tiniest piccolo (the size of a fat straw) to the tall, skinny bassoon. You will meet the brass family -- from the trumpets and slide trombone, to the 20-foot-long French Horns, which are all curled up so they can fit into the players' arms. And you will hear the percussion family -- cymbals, xylophone, triangle, snare drum, kettledrums and bass drum -- which can make the loudest sounds of all," explained Davenny Wyner.Notes for teachers preparing their students for a concert experience, along with accompanying CD recordings, were delivered to area grade 3-8 schools.